Garment waistband



Dec' 7, 1965 1 w. JOHNSON ETAL 3,221,346

GARMENT WAI STBAND Filed Oct. 24, 1963 N V E N TO f2.5 Leonard W Johnson Ka f- @y Qnmwf. fw

FM ffl. 31h/AA figs United States Patent O 3,221,346 GARMENT WAISTBAND Leonard W. `lohnson, Oak Park, Karl E. Senser, Riverside,

and Charles E. Pellino, Mount Prospect, Ill., assignors to Sears, Roebuck and Co., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 24, 1963, Ser. No. 318,585 3 Claims. (Cl. 2-236) This invention relates to waistbands for trousers and like articles of apparel.

One of the objects of this invention is the provision of a waistband which comprises a component part of an article of apparel and which provides desired frictional engagement with another such article worn contiguous thereto.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a waistband which affords a high degree of comfort to the wearer with minimum bulk.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a waistband which is simple to manufacture and highly eicient for its intended purposes.

Other and further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description when the same is considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which,

FIG. 1 is a perspective View, with parts turned back, showing an illustrative garment assembly embodying the waistband of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken substantially on line 2 2 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary exploded View illustrating the several components of the waistband structure of this invention.

Referring now specifically to the drawings there is shown in FIG. l the upper portion of a garment which may be a pair of trousers or a skirt and which includes a typical outer body circumferentially extending band conventionally stitched to the body 11 of the garment or article of apparel.

In accordance with the present invention, the improved waistband construction indicated generally by the numeral 12 is intended to be fabricated into a complete subassembly before attachment to the garment and comprises a base strip of a relatively wide fabric 13, a strip of stiffening material 14 and a facing strip of a foamed elastomer or like material 16.

As will be seen by reference to FIG. 2, the base strip 13 is of substantially greater width than either of the strips 14 and 16 and has its lower edge portion 17 folded over along line 15 to encompass the lower marginal edges of the strips 14 and 16, all secured by a line of stitching 18. The upper edge portion 19 of the strip 13 is folded as at 21 to encompass the upper marginal edge portions of the strips 14 and 16 and is secured to the strips by a line of stitching 22. The extension portion 23 of the edge portion 19 affords means for securing the waistband construction to the garment, as will be hereinafter explained.

The stiffening strip 14 may comprise any suitable fibrous, woven or felted material which will afford a desired degree of stilfness to the waistband so as to maintain the waistband in neat condition on the body of the wearer and minimize any likelihood of rolling or folding over of the upper edge portion of the waistband while providing adequate flexibility to avoid discomfort to the wearer.

The facing strip 16 may be formed of any suitable elastomer foam, such as rubber or resin foam. We have found polyurethane foam particularly satisfactory in this instance because it can be fabricated into strips which are relatively thin, of the order of l@ inch or less in thickness and may be readliy stitched without disintegrating.

It will be understood that the waistband construction of our invention lends itself to fabrication into continuous lengths which may be stored on reels and thereafter cut to desired lengths for use in garments and the like. It will also be understood that instead of stitching the component parts may be secured together as with a suitable adhesive or bonding medium.

As will be apparent by reference to FIG. 2 the waistband construction 12 of our invention is attached to the waistband portion 10 of a garment along the upper edge of the extension portion 23, after the marginal edge thereof has been folded over upon itself. The marginal edge portion 24 of the band 10 of the garment is disposed between the portions 19 and 23 of the waistband. In order to prevent displacement of the waistband from its desired position in relation to the garment, the lower edge of the waistband 12 may be secured to the body of the garment, as by blind stitching, not shown, along fold line 15.

The waistband construction 12 of our invention affords adequate frictional retention of an engaged garment, such as a shirt so as to prevent the same from sliding out of the trousers or other garment of which the waistband is a part.

It will be understood that the waistband construction 12 may be used on other types of articles of apparel, for example, on the body encircling band of jackets, for the purpose of engaging an adjacent nether garment to prevent relative movement between the two. Additionally, it is contemplated that a band constructed in accordance with our invention may be applied to each leg of a suit of long underwear so as to support the socks of the wearer and maintain the same in neat upright condition. It will be apparent that the waistband construction of our invention embodies a highly desirable porosity so as not to preclude the circulation of air in the region where applied to the garment, therefore providing for maximum comfort to the wearer.

Various changes coming within the spirit of our invention may suggest themselves to those skilled in the art; hence, we do not wish to be limited to the specific embodiments shown and described or uses mentioned, but intend the same to be merely exemplary, the scope of our invention being limited only by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A band for incorporation with an article of apparel to provide frictional engagement of the article with another article of apparel worn in contiguous relation thereto comprising a flexible base strip, a facing strip of an elastomer foam in contiguous relation to said base strip, said facing strip having a thickness of substantially 1/16 inch, the marginal longitudinal edges of said base strip being folded over the corresponding longitudinal marginal edges of said facing strip and being secured thereto by lines of stitching and a stiifening strip interposed between said base and facing strips, one of said folded longitudinal marginal edges of said base strip having an i11- tegral extension reversely folded and overlapping said folded longitudinal marginal edge, said extension affording means for attaching said band to an article of apparel.

2. In combination, an article of wearing apparel having a waist portion adapted to be disposed about the waist of a wearer, a waistband comprising a flexible base strip, a facing strip of an elastomer foam in contiguous relation to said base strip, said facing strip having a thickness of substantially 1/16 inch, the marginal longitudinal edges of said base strip being folded over the corresponding longitudinal marginal edges of said facing strip and being secured together by lines of stitching, a stiifening strip interposed between said base and facing strips, the upper folded marginal edge of said base strip having an integral extension reversely folded and overlapping said folded longitudinal marginal edge, said extension being Connected to said garment by aline of stitching.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2 in which the facing strip is polyurethane foam.

References Cited bythe Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,770,002 7/1930 Marcus 2-236 2,630,575 3/1953 Feinberg 2-236 FOREIGN PATENTS 163,694 6/1955 Australia.

213,901 3/ 1958 Australia. 1,125,378 3/1962 Germany.

744,553 2/ 1956 Great Britain.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT V. SLOAN, Examiner. 

1. A BAND FOR INCORPORATION WITH AN ARTICLE OF APPAREL TO PROVIDE FRICTIONAL ENGAGEMENT OF THE ARTICLE WITH ANOTHER ARTICLE OF APPAREL WORN IN CONTIGUOUS RELATION THERETO COMPRISING A FLEXIBLE BASE STRIP, A FACING STRIP OF AN ELASTOMER FOAM IN CONTIGUOUS RELATION TO SAID BASE STRIP, SAID FACING STRIP HAVING A THICKNESS OF SUBSTANTIALLY 1/16 INCH, THE MARGINAL LONGITUDINAL EDGES OF SAID BASE STRIP BEING FOLDED OVER THE CORRESPONDING LONGITUDINAL MARGINAL EDGES OF SAID FACING STRIP AND BEING SECURED THERETO BY LINES OF STITCHING AND A STIFFENING STRIP INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID BASE AND FACING STRIPS, ONE OF SAID FOLDED LONGITUDINAL MARGINAL EDGES OF SAID BASE STRIP HAVING AN INTEGRAL EXTENSION REVERSELY FOLDED AND OVERLAPPING SAID FOLDED LONGITUDINAL MARGINAL EDGE, SAID EXTENSION AFFORDING MEANS FOR ATTACHING SAID BAND TO AN ARTICLE OF APPAREL. 